Black Sabbath Reissuing Full Ozzy-Era Discography as Vinyl Box Set

'The Vinyl Collection: 1970-1978,' just in time for end times

A heavy dose of classic metal is about to return to vinyl. Black Sabbath have announced (via NME) they will reissue all of their albums on vinyl in a massive box set. The Vinyl Collection: 1970-1978 is set for a December 12 release date, meaning Black Sabbath will be there for you in the event of a fabled Mayan apocalypse.

In appropriate Black Sabbath fashion, this box set will be a beast. It contains nine LPs, which includes all eight of the the band’s albums during this period — Black Sabbath, Paranoid, Master of Reality, Volume 4, Sabbath Bloody SabbathSabotage, Technical Ecstasy, and Never Say Die — plus the live album Live at Last, based on a 1973 concert. Master of Reality comes with its original poster, while Volume 4 contains a photo insert book.

All of the albums are remastered at 24-bit, 96kHz resolution, which the band bills as a “listening experience closer than ever before to being in the studio at the original Black Sabbath recording sessions.” The set comes with a download voucher; a 12-inch by 12-inch hard-backed book of tour programs from 1970, 1975, 1976, and 1978; and a 7-inch single containing the band’s debut single “Evil Woman” backed with non-album track “Wicked World.”

Black Sabbath are going to need a bigger box, because the Ozzy Osbourne-led metal lords are planning on releasing an all-new album next year, produced by Rick Rubin. Guitarist Tony Iommi recently told an interviewer the band had recorded about six songs for their first full-length since Never Say Die. They’ve written about 15 songs, according to Osbourne himself. After headlining Lollapolooza this year among a couple of other gigs, the band is set to play shows in Australia in 2013 for the first time since 1974. Still, they’re going on without original drummer Bill Ward, who dropped out of the reunion over contract disputes.

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